


A Chance Meeting on Christmas Eve

by captainamergirl



Series: That's Christmas to Me [1]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: AU pairing, Alternate Universe, F/M, Holidays, Rare Pairings, Tylena - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25376029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: Prompt: Character A and Character B meet in the ER on Christmas Eve.{Tyler/Elena one shot}
Relationships: Elena Gilbert/Tyler Lockwood
Series: That's Christmas to Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837660
Kudos: 1





	A Chance Meeting on Christmas Eve

_The ER bustles with activity._  
  
Somehow, Elena would have thought it would be deserted on Christmas Eve. Shouldn’t everyone be home with their families, wrapping presents, ensconced by a blazing hearth, drinking hot toddies?  
  
But maybe these people have no one to go home to tonight. _She certainly doesn't._  
  
Her heart thuds painfully against her ribcage as she presses the damp, sticky napkin to her neck and moves onto the winding line at the check-in desk.  
  
“Damn, this line is way too long,” a voice says behind her. Elena bristles for a moment, recognizing that voice from what seems like another lifetime. A lifetime before things became so different and oh so difficult.  
  
“Yeah, it’s practically out the door. It’s standing room only in here,” she says over the lump in her throat.  
  
“Wait,” he says. _“Elena Gilbert?”_  
  
Elena slowly turns to look at him. He is as handsome, and well-built as ever, though he’s sporting some cuts and bruises on his face. “Hi, Tyler,” she says.  
  
“Hey, Elena. It’s been a long time."  
  
“Yep…”  
  
“Like what, five years?”  
  
“Something like that.”  
  
“Last time I saw you was at graduation. Did you ever get away from here?”  
  
“Yeah… for awhile…” She clutches her coat tighter around her tiny body. “And what about you? Did you ever play pro?”  
  
“I never made it that far,” Tyler admits. “I blew my knee out in college.”  
  
“That really sucks.”  
  
He shrugs. “I think my dad was actually way more disappointed than I was.”  
  
“So … what are you doing home?” She feels compelled to make conversation, although she doesn’t know why.  
  
“It’s the holidays,” Tyler shrugs. “I thought I’d better come see my family for a change.”  
  
“I bet they’re happy you’re home.”  
  
“I guess.” He scratches the back of his neck. “Line’s moving,” he points out.  
  
“Oh, right.” Elena moves forward.  
  
“So,” Tyler says, “what are you doing back? Holiday stuff, too?”  
  
“Uh… Well, I’ve been working on fixing up the family house,” she says. “I’m planning to sell it.”  
  
“And your parents are cool with that?”  
  
Elena feels her breath catch in her throat. For a moment, she can’t answer. Then she squeaks out, “They wanted me to have it.”  
  
Tyler pauses before saying, “Oh … okay.”  
  
The line moves again and Elena steps up to the desk. She begins filling out the necessary forms with the hand that isn’t plastered to her throat. It takes a good ten minutes.  
  
She turns back to face the waiting room. A couple - the woman, noticeably pregnant - vacate their chairs when their name is called.  
  
Elena ducks into the first empty seat, feeling her legs threatening to give out on her. She sinks deep into the lumpy cushioning and stares at the little red and green lights looped around a small, fake plastic tree positioned right beside her.  
  
 _“Seat taken?”_ Tyler’s voice jolts her from her thoughts.  
  
“Huh? Oh, no,” she says. “It’s all yours.”  
  
He scoots into the chair next to her. His knee lightly brushes hers, but if he notices, he doesn’t say so. Under her eyelashes, she watches him pick up a magazine. It’s an old issue of _National Geographic_. He almost immediately throws it down. “They never have decent magazines in these places,” he grumbles.  
  
Elena nods in agreement. “No, they don’t.”  
  
Tyler studies her then, almost as if he’s seeing her for the first time. She doesn’t quite know what to say to him. They’ve never exactly been close; despite growing up in the same small town. He was always all about sports, girls, and money, and she’d just been the girl dating his friend Matt and watching him use and discard _her_ friends. Caroline had always told her what a jerk he was; swearing she would never forgive him for standing her up for the junior prom.  
  
“So what have you been up to all of this time?” He asks.  
  
“This and that,” she says quietly. _Burying my parents; watching my little brother fall apart and abuse drugs to try to cope with the loss… What about you?_  
  
“'This and that',” he echoes. “Well, that’s vague.”  
  
"I’d rather hear about the exciting things you’ve done since leaving Mystic Falls.”  
  
“Exciting things,” he sniffs. “Other than blowing out my knee? Yeah, I can’t think of anything.”  
  
She shrugs. “Oh come on. You’re Tyler Lockwood. You’ve got to have a million and one stories about your exploits.”  
  
He laughs. “Exploits? _Really?”_  
  
“Okay, _adventures_ then…”  
  
He shifts in his seat. “Let’s just say the world outside Mystic Falls isn’t all it's cracked up to be.”  
  
“Tell me about it,” she says wryly.  
  
“I expected my life to dramatically change, you know; and it did, but not necessarily for the better. At Uni, I was just like, a small fish in a really big pond.”  
  
“You - a small fish? _Never."_  
  
His eyes crinkle in a smile. “That’s what I use to think too, but life out in the ‘big world’ wasn't what I hoped for, or what I felt like I was promised. I had to adjust my expectations and it sucked. Big time.”  
  
“You know, that's oddly relatable.”  
  
“Anyway, what are you in for?” Tyler asked in a casual tone of voice.  
  
“Animal bite,” Elena replies, gesturing to her neck. “What about you?” She studies his bruised cheek and busted lip. “No, let me guess. _Bar fight?”_  
  
He smirks widely and then hisses, touching his lip. _“Parking lot_ fight. Some random thought I was hitting on his girl.”  
  
“Were you?”  
  
Tyler chuckles, seemingly in spite of himself. "I thought she could do better.”  
  
Elena laughs. Tyler Lockwood was as brazen and cocky as ever. Some things never changed and she was glad for that somehow. _Too_ much had already changed in the past year.  
  
She sobers again, thinking of her beloved parents. She wonders if she will ever stop hurting over this.  
  
Tyler watches her mouth turn down in a frown. “Hey, where’d you go just then?”  
  
“Huh?” Elena asks. “Oh uh… Sorry.”  
  
“Everything alright?” Tyler asks and she thinks this is definitely something new - Tyler wanting to know how she is. She never would have thought he cared about anyone’s feelings; other than his own, of course. “Something I said?”  
  
“No,” Elena says. “This actually happens a good five hundred times a day at least.”  
  
“What does?”  
  
“Me... thinking about my parents,” she admits in a low voice. “It’s been a whole year come January since they …” She digs her nails into her palm. “Anyway, I guess it just hit me… It's my first Christmas … without them.”  
  
“Oh…”  
  
“Sorry. Seriously, I'm sorry for being such a drag. We were having a pretty relaxed conversation and suddenly, I got all emo on you.”  
  
“It’s okay. It sounds like whatever happened… it really sucked.”  
  
"You could say that." She splays her hands. “There was an accident on the Wickery Bridge. I was in the car too. Somehow I survived and they … didn’t.” She worries her bottom lip between her teeth.  
  
“That’s harsh,” Tyler says quietly. “I’m sorry.”  
  
She is surprised by the sincerity in his voice. Tyler seems genuinely affected by what she just told him. She never would have thought Tyler Lockwood of all people would care about anything outside his own sphere of reference.  
  
 _Maybe all changes aren’t bad,_ she muses.  
  
“T-thanks,” she murmurs.  
  
He nods. “Yeah, of course. I knock heads with my parents at least once a day and twice on Saturdays, but I can’t even imagine…” His voice trails off, but he holds her gaze like he’s trying to figure her out.  
  
Elena returns his gaze until it becomes too much and she looks away. “Anyway…What are you doing for the holidays?”  
  
“Something at my parents hou-” He breaks off. “I mean-”  
  
She smiles quietly. “Tyler, it’s okay to say ‘parents’. The word isn’t outlawed in these parts. At least, I don’t think it is.”  
  
He shrugs. “Just hanging out with my parents,” he said. “Typically, my mom would host some big event where people can come to witness what an awesome ‘family’ we are; you know, to show her constituents what a wholesome bunch we supposedly are, but this year, I managed to convince her to keep everything low-key. I want to hang out in my jeans and watch football like everybody else; not put on a penguin suit and be paraded around the yard like a new puppy.”  
  
Elena laughs at the image of Tyler on a leash, being taken out to relieve himself on the grass so he doesn’t soil the expensive, lush carpeting in the big Lockwood mansion. “What’s so funny?” He asks with a smile on his pretty - if purpled - face. “Do I even want to know?”  
  
“No, no, I don’t think you do.”  
  
He seems about to say something when suddenly both of their names are being called. Two nurses in hospital issued, puce-colored scrubs wave them over. For a moment, Elena thinks they are headed for the same room - she thinks she may even like it if they are - but the big burly nurse points in one direction and the petite mousy one in the other.  
  
Elena and Tyler look at each other for a moment. “So… see you around,” Elena says.  
  
“Yeah, sure,” he agrees.  
  
Elena starts to the door the big nurse is holding open. She darts a glance backwards and sees Tyler watching her. She feels a little flutter low in her belly. It’s very unexpected, but not entirely unpleasant.  
  
“Elena?” He calls to her.  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“If you’re still around when I get out of here … can I buy you a coffee at the Grill, or a hot chocolate, or whatever the hell it is you girls like to drink in the wintertime?”  
  
Elena chuckles. “That sounds nice,” she says. And strangely, it really does...  
  
THE END.


End file.
